The Calgary Roughnecks went looking for a solid defender and a right-handed shooter in Tuesday’s National Lacrosse League Draft.

They got both, using the seventh- and eighth-overall picks to pluck d-man Liam LeClair and shooter Haiden Dickson.

Check …

And check.

“I think we’re all very happy,” said Roughnecks GM Mike Board. “We needed to add some depth on both sides of the ball, and I think we were able to do that. Those two picks were what we really wanted to do.”

To boot, they kept it all in the family, with LeClair the younger brother of former Riggers draftee Kellen and their second-round pick — acquired via mid-draft trade — being Marshal King, the sibling of current Roughnecks sniper Jesse.

“I can’t wait to get started,” LeClair, who’s brother Kellen was a former Roughnecks player, told B/R Live. “Unfortunately, he’s not playing right now because of a heart condition. Obviously playing on the same team that he played for is a privilege. I think it’s a good fit. He’s only said good things about them.”

The Roughnecks didn’t wait long to get a much-needed defender, using the New England Black Wolves pick from the 2016 trade of Shawn Evans to grab LeClair from the Ontario Junior ‘A’ league’s Six Nations Arrows and U Sport’s Windsor Lancers.

The Riggers wanted to draft a rearguard since they lost captain Dan MacRae to the newly-minted New York Riptides in the NLL Expansion Draft earlier this summer.

And in 21-year-old LeClair, of Windsor, Ont., they get a MacRae-like guy — a 6-foot-3, 220-lb. smart player with quickness and a penchant for being rugged.

“We know the lineage, so to speak,” Board said. “He’s a big strong athletic defender. Very happy to draft him.”

With the very next pick — one they acquired in an off-season deal to retrieve multi-faceted Shane Simpson and off-load disgruntled star sniper Wes Berg — the Riggers drafted Dickson.

The 6-foot-2, 195 lb. forward was a 50-goal scorer in the B.C.’s Junior ‘A’ league, getting 45 with the Delta Islanders and five more with the Coquitlam Adanacs after being acquired at the trade deadline.

“Very young player — he’s got some years of junior left,” Board said. “We saw him at the Minto Cup and throughout the season and really liked what he can do. He’s got really good upside and great skill and nice size.”

The product of Delta, B.C., also claimed a gold medal playing for Canada at the 2018 World Junior Lacrosse Championship.

“It means a lot,” said Dickson, 18, of getting drafted. “Everything I’ve been through, just battling and working super hard toward it, it feels good.

“I’d probably just say a super hard worker — I love having the ball,” Dickson continued. “Love getting the ball to other guys … doing whatever role is needed.”

Being a righty, he’s excited to get the chance to play with fellow righty Curtis Dickson — no relation and one of the league’s top offensive talents.

“It should be awesome just playing with him,” said the newly-drafted Dickson. “I’ve been watching Curtis for a long time. Just want to help get him get open, make some plays … do whatever I can to help and make the team better.”

Jesse King has made the team better since his arrival last summer.

And now his younger brother, Marshal, can help the Roughnecks improve as well.

Board & Co. obviously coveted the younger King, trading to get the pick after not having a second-round selection heading into Tuesday’s draft.

Mid-draft, they sent their second pick in the 2021 NLL Draft to the Georgia Swarm, who drafted Jesse a few years back, to climb up to No. 22 and take King, a right-handed shooter with 24 goals and 49 points this past season with the NCAA’s Drexel Dragons. The native of Victoria, B.C., then added 10 goals and 30 points in 12 games with the Western Lacrosse Association’s Victoria Shamrocks this summer.

“A big, athletic righty,” said Board of King. “He was just at the Mann Cup. He’s one year out of junior but played against men this year and showed well.

With two third-round picks, the Riggers selected Nick Scott, a right-handed defender, at No. 40, and goaltender Landon Kells, at No. 46.

The 19-year-old Scott, a 6-foot-5, 200-pounder from Pitt Meadows, B.C. played for the home-province Langley Thunder at both the junior and senior level this past season.

“Again sizy and athletic,” Board said.

Kells, meanwhile, comes from a long line of lacrosse goalies, as his grandfather, uncle and dad all played between the pipes.

“With lacrosse, it goes all throughout the family,” Kells, a 18-year-old from Fergus, Ont., told B/R Live. “They teach you the values of lacrosse and how it should be played. They keep passing it from generation to generation. My dad passed all the knowledge on to me, and I took everything in like a sponge. I can’t thank them enough, because without them, I wouldn’t be here where I am today.”

Board added. “We had him ranked fairly high as a goalie. He’s going to have to grow with us, but you can’t have too many goalies in your stable.”

The Roughnecks used the last pick of the fifth round to choose scoring forward and leader Cordell Hastings of the Founder Cup-champion Calgary Shamrocks. The 21-year-old Calgarian, a sizy football receiver with the U Sports’ Acadia Axemen, led the local side at the Canadian Junior ‘B’ championship with 10 goals and 25 points.

“Just another big strong guy,” Board said of the 6-foot-3, 190-pounder who graduated from Centennial High School. “He plays offence, defence and transition. It’s a big jump to come up from Junior B to the NLL, but he’s definitely an athlete. So we’ll see how he develops.”

And with their sixth-round selection — the 89th and final draft of the night — the Riggers went with forward Travis Getz, another Calgary kid and forward who starred with Ontario’s Brooklin Merchants Senior ‘B’ squad and Wheeling Jesuit University this past season.

“He was a mainstay with the Calgary (Junior ‘A’) Raiders,” added Board of the 5-foot-8, 160-lb. Getz, 23. “He’s really smart. Plays well both with the ball and off the ball. It’s another Calgary kid who can come to camp and show what he’s got. Another depth guy.”

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